Roger Taylor: Caddoran

‘His shoulder’s broken,’ Rhavvan replied as Oudrence opened his mouth. ‘I just bound it up to keep it still.’

‘I know a little about healing,’ Endryk said. ‘May I look at it?’

Oudrence looked at Rhavvan who shrugged.

Endryk’s examination was markedly more gentle than Rhavvan’s had been, and Oudrence relaxed noticeably as his injured shoulder was carefully tested and manipulated. Seemingly satisfied, Endryk announced, ‘You’re lucky. It’s not broken, just dislocated. Hang on.’ Before Oudrence could respond, Endryk wound his arms about him in an elaborate embrace and then jerked him violently. There was a cracking sound that made all the watchers start and then cringe, and such colour as there was in Oudrence’s cheeks drained away instantly as his mouth opened to draw in a loud breath of disbelief and horror.

‘There, that’s better,’ Endryk said briskly, releasing him and slipping Oudrence’s arm back into Rhavvan’s impromptu sling. ‘It’s going to hurt like hell for a while, but at least it’s back in place. Rest it as much as you can – keep it relaxed.’

Oudrence, staring wide-eyed into the fire, let out the breath he had taken in, in a series of short, distressed gasps.

‘Anyone else got any problems?’ Endryk asked, sitting down and looking expectantly round the circle. A series of vigorous head shakes greeted this inquiry.

‘Will he be fit to move on… on his own?’ Hyrald asked, a little hoarsely.

Endryk nodded. ‘The nearest village is a long day’s walk away, but it’s not difficult. He won’t enjoy it, but he should be all right if he takes it easy. He can rest here tonight – you all can, if you want. I’ll show him the way tomorrow.’

‘We seem to be growing more and more in your debt,’ Hyrald said.

‘You’ve lived too long in Arvenshelm,’ Endryk said. ‘What else could I have done? Left you? Walked on?’

‘Even so…’

‘Nothing you’ve told me makes any sense,’ Endryk interrupted. ‘But that’s the way it is with the Moot and its officers and everything around it.’ He tapped his head. ‘Devoid of logic and reason. Full of self-deception, vanity, corruption.’ His tone was bitter. ‘That someone’s proclaimed the Death Cry – with or without so-called just cause – shows that clearly enough. It’s barbarous – a relic of times long gone!’ He ended abruptly with a gesture of disgust. ‘Just offering you a hand when you were in danger, helping the lad with his injury, incurs no debt. How could I have done less?’

‘I didn’t mean to offend,’ Hyrald replied, taken aback by this sudden passion.

‘You didn’t, you didn’t,’ Endryk said hastily. ‘I didn’t realize I still felt so strongly about such matters. You must forgive me. As I said, I’m not used to company.’

‘Where are you from?’ Rhavvan asked.

‘Or questions,’ Endryk added forcefully. Rhavvan raised an apologetic hand and sat back. ‘If you want to carry on north, I’ll show you the way as well, though it’s at least four days west, inland past the estuary, before there’s a river narrow enough to cross. And it’s no easy crossing.’

‘Have you ever been north?’ Adren asked. Rhavvan looked at Endryk in anticipation of another rebuke, but none came, just a slight nod.

‘What kind of place is it?’ Thyrn burst in, wide-eyed. ‘There’s a great city there, isn’t there? Bigger even than a dozen Arvenshelms. And a land where everyone rides horses…’

‘There are towns and cities, and people,’ Endryk replied quietly. ‘And people are the same everywhere.’

‘Can you tell us anything about these places? Would we be safe there?’ Hyrald asked.

‘From the Death Cry, yes. But you’d be safe from that here. No one in the village, or in any of the villages within a week’s walk, gives a damn about anything that happens in Arvenshelm.’ He chuckled to himself. It was a warming sound. ‘In fact, most of them probably have no idea where Arvenshelm is. Still less what the Moot and Wardens are. It might be that your journey’s ended.’

Hyrald shook his head. ‘They found us once, they’ll find us again. If we stayed, we might only bring trouble to you.’ He let out a noisy breath. ‘We have to leave Arvenstaat. Settle into new lives somewhere until we can find out what’s happened – have the Death Cry set aside.’

‘How are you going to do that from exile?’

Hyrald made a helpless gesture. ‘I don’t know. I haven’t thought about it. None of us have. We…’

‘Think about it now,’ Endryk said bluntly. ‘While you can. There are other lands to the north, and you could survive there, even live well. But maybe not, too. And this land is yours. Don’t be too anxious to be rid of it. Its roots will go deeper than you know.’

‘We’ve no choice.’

‘There are always choices.’

Hyrald shrugged to end the discussion. He was finding the course of the conversation oddly disturbing. The sun had set and though the sky was still clear, it had become quite dark in the dip.

‘My choice now then is to rest,’ he said, stretching. ‘We’ll accept your offer to stay here tonight, with thanks. This is the first time we’ve stopped running since all this started. Perhaps you’re right. Perhaps we need to pause and think for a while. And we’ll certainly need to put today behind us before we can do that.’

Hyrald woke the next day with bright daylight shining in his face. It was obviously long past dawn. Although he was uncomfortable, he felt refreshed. He had envisaged a disturbed and difficult night, cramped as they all were in the shelter and following on the day’s desperate events, but he had gone to sleep as soon as he had lain down. The light was coming through the doorway of the shelter which had been left open and it enabled him to disentangle himself gently from Nordath’s legs. Stiffly he levered himself upright and went outside.

Endryk was talking to the horses, tethered to a nearby tree. Rhavvan was crouched over the fire prodding something in a pan. ‘Very useful, those supplies our colleagues brought.’

Hyrald frowned at the remark. ‘First shade of the day,’ he said. Rhavvan looked up at him questioningly.

‘I was just feeling glad to be awake after a good night’s sleep, and you remind me we killed two of our own yesterday.’ He raised a hand to forestall Rhavvan’s protest. ‘I know. They asked for it. They drew on us. We couldn’t have done anything else. But that doesn’t make it any easier.’

Rhavvan returned to his cooking. ‘It does for me,’ he said. ‘A damned sight easier. For crying out, Hyrald, would you have gone tearing all the way up here on such an errand? They came in blades swinging and they got what they deserved. I’ve taken my stick to a few in my time, but I can count on one hand the number I’ve drawn against – and none of them without damned good justification. Here, sit and eat, it’ll clear your mind – you must’ve got sand in it. It’s got everywhere else!’

Gradually the others emerged from the shelter. Reproach was offered to Hyrald for managing to sleep through Oudrence’s tossing and turning as he had striven unsuccessfully to find a comfortable position, but Hyrald could tell that the events of the previous day and the night’s sleep had somehow renewed the group’s determination.

Despite some initial wariness, not to say downright alarm, on the part of the young Warden, Endryk examined Oudrence’s shoulder again and pronounced it sound.

When they had finished eating – a bizarre mixture of dried meats that the Wardens had carried, and fresh fish that Endryk had provided – Hyrald turned to Oudrence.

‘Time for you to go now, if you’re going,’ he said. He looked at Endryk for confirmation. ‘It’s going to be a fine day. You should make good progress. You’ll be all right once you reach the village, I’m sure. You might even be able to borrow a horse.’ He bent close and looked directly into Oudrence’s eyes. ‘You can tell anyone you meet what’s happened here, and everything we’ve said. When you get back to Arvenshelm – you are from Commander Vashnar’s own district, aren’t you?’